Queens 2 Dundee 2 |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Mar 18 2007 at 12:03 PM |
On a cold,wet and windy afternoon Queens took to the pitch at Palmerston looking to keep their unbeaten run going and to get more points in the bag to pull away from the bottom of the league. Dundee had not completely given up hope of catching Gretna and making a return to the SPL but a 13 point gap looked to be too much with only 7 games remaining.
Queens pretty much lined up as expected with Murray Henderson taking over at the back beside Jim Thomson following Jim Lauchlans groin strain last week against County. There was no place for Graham Weir in the starting eleven or on the bench as he had injured himself in the pre match warm up. Andy Aitken was back on the bench following his recovery from the knee injury he sustained over in Ireland against Coleraine in the pre-season friendly. Also on the bench were Stevie Tosh,Andy Barrowman,Scott Robertson and Barry John Corr. Dundee were without strikers Bryan Deasley and Del Lyle but had brought in giant Dutchman Dyron Daal on loan from Aberdeen. Our last league defeat was up at Dens park against the Dees back in January so Queens were out for a bit of revenge in front of a crowd which was just under 2000.
Queens kicked of attacking the Terregles Street end in a now familiar 4-4-2 formation but it was the visitors who looked to grab hold of the game early on and after just 3 minutes a shot from the excellent and influential Paul McHale forced a save from Jamie MacDonald. In the first 10 minutes Queens could not get a hold of the ball and just didnt settle. Dundee winger Gavin Swankie then had a turn and shot which went wide before Queens won the ball with a fine tackle from John O'Neil who played the ball to Jamie Adams. It looked like Adams might shoot as he drove towards the box but he then played the ball out left to Stevie Murray whose low shot beat Ludovic Roy and flew into the net after 13 minutes. A brilliant move by Queens and an excellent finish from the little winger. A minute later and it could have been 2-0 to Queens as Sean O'Connor� was through on goal but his effort was saved by Roy at the expense of a corner. Chances were few and far between but on the half hour mark Eric Paton picked up the ball midway inside the Dundee half, moved forward and fired a shot just wide of the left hand post.
Dundee then levelled the match at 1-1 when Murray Henderson misjudged a ball forward and it was picked up by big Dutchman Daal and he fired a powerful shot past Jamie MacDonald from outside the box. This goal seemed to lift Dundee and they then took the game to Queens. Jamie MacDonald made another fine stop then a shot from full back Dixon went just wide before Dundees Scot Robertson had an effort that also went wide. Queens had one more chance to get back in front before the break but after a good ball forward from Stevie Murray big Seans effort went wide. There was a bit of panic in the Queens defence as half time approached when Swankies cross was blocked for a corner before the ball was cleared. Referee Alan Muir, who had a decent game produced the first yellow card of the game after 44 minutes when he booked Jay Shields for a tackle on Stevie Murray.
The second half started with no changes in the line-ups but it was still Dundee who looked the more likely to score and a shot from Kevin McDonald went high and wide after 47 minutes. A neat flick from Stephen Dobbie, who was having a quiet game by his standards found Sean O'Connor but the ball deflected for a corner from which a Dobbie shot was held by Ludo Roy. Disaster struck for Queens after 56 minutes when Murray Henderson lost the ball and Dundee striker Bob Davidson picked it up and shot past Jamie MacDonald to put his side 2-1 up much to the delight of the 80 or so travelling fans. The Dees were now dominating the match and obviously Ian McCall could see this and he decided to make a triple change after 65 minutes. On came Andy Aitken for his first game of the season as he replaced Murray Henderson who had contributed towards both Dundee goals. Stevie Tosh replaced John O'Neil and Andy Barrowman came on for Stephen Dobbie. Queens then began to push forward in search of an equaliser but the Dundee defence was well organised and solid and Ludo Roy was never being put under any real pressure. After 87 minutes O'Connor looked like he must level but his header from a Tosh cross was over the top�and just�as it looked like we were going to come to the end of our recent good run we got a last gasp leveller. Stevie Murrays cross into the box was met by Andy Barrowman and his header crept in at the post. There were calls for a penalty well into added on time when O'Connor was knocked in the box but it would have been a harsh decision and a bit harsh on Dundee if they had went back to Tayside with nothing.
As I got back to the car it was pleasing to find that we had lost no ground on the other teams around us at the bottom of the league. Airdrie lost at home to St.Johnstone while Particks defeat at home to Hamilton pulls them down into the relegation mix. County only managed a point at home to Clyde so all in all it was not a bad day. We can certainly play much better than we did today and next Sunday we will have to be at our best to take anything from Joe Millers high flying Clyde. Positives today were the return to the team of Andy Aitken who looked as though he had never been away and�a first goal for the hard working Andy Barrowman.
Musky.
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